The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

NSW childcare abuser’s sentence tripled

A former Sydney childcare supervisor who sexually abused an eight-year-old girl and filmed her on the toilet has had his jail sentence more than tripled.

Nikki Stoupe pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated indecent assault against the child over a six-month period in 2012, when he was 27.

In November, he was sentenced to a non-parole period of eight months, but prosecutors successfully appealed the sentence before the NSW Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal on Friday.

The judges hearing the appeal increased Stoupe's prison time to at least two-and-a-half years to reflect the gravity of the offences. The sentence is back-dated to November, when the original ruling was handed down.

Stoupe was working as a childcare supervisor at The Cubby House, which ran before and after-school programs, when he carried out the abuse.

In April 2012, he secretly filmed the girl while she went to the toilet.

About two months later, the victim went to speak with Stoupe after her friends had left.